Monday, April 26, 2010

On April 7, the Lowell Spinners honored Francis Wyman School for being such a caring school. Francis Wyman School was nominated for this honor as a result of a letter written to the Spinners by a Francis Wyman family. The entire school enjoyed the visit by the Red Sox legend Bill Monbouquette, Miss Massachesetts, Miss Worcester, Dan Roche from BZ sports, and of course the Canaligator! Each student in the school decorated a Red Sox/Spinners pennant and wrote a thank you message to the veterans for their service to our country. The Spinners representatives brought the pennants directly to the VA Hospital in Bedford to give them to the veterans and to decorate the hallways. They left with 2 boxes containing 600 pennants! What a day to celebrate how Francis Wyman School CARES!

Miss Worcester and Miss Massachusetts

Dan Roche, Miss Worcester, Miss Massachusetts, and

Jessica from the Lowell Spinners

John from the Spinners congratulates the students and encourages them to give back to the veterans by writing thank you messages on their pennants.

Students get autographs from Bill Monbouquette and collect 2 boxes full of the decorated pennants.

The BEF awarded our physical education department a grant for their innovative project which will allow them to acquire new software that will enable the teachers to approach physical fitness through a Response to Intervention model. The teachers will utilize the software to assess and monitor student fitness, differentiate instruction, and inform parents. Thank you to Neil and Pat for their commitment to this cutting-edge project that will support all our students as they work to attain physical fitness. Good health is key for students to learn and perform their best!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

On Tuesday, April 13, Francis Wyman School hosted a team of educators from Deerfield, Massachusetts, who came to learn about what we are doing with RtI and the Tiered Instruction Model. The assistant principal and five teachers came to our school in the hopes of seeing a new approach in action and to talk to us about our experiences this year. After visiting classrooms and talking with staff, they left the day saying that it was well worth their long trip as they saw “something very special going on at Francis Wyman School”. They were impressed with the tremendous consistency they saw as they traveled from classroom to classroom. In every classroom the students were engaged in their learning They remarked on the structured, organized classrooms in which students clearly understood the classroom teachers’ expectations. The impact of the master schedule was apparent as uninterrupted time-on -learning was ongoing throughout the day. They were touched by the atmosphere of the school and noted that all the students seemed to be very happy. They were astounded that we were in our first year of implementation as it appeared that everything was flowing so smoothly. It was a great time to reflect on where we have been and how far we have come in such a short time frame. It was a real testament to the hard work and dedication of the faculty and staff as they have worked to implement so many changes to better support our students. It also reflects the wonderful support that our families provide to their children and to the school community. Francis Wyman School has a lot to be proud of!